


How To Kill A Dead Boy

by SimmeringSun



Series: Siblings of Light [5]
Category: Mega Man (Archie Comics), Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Dr. Light's A+ Parenting, Dysfunctional Family, Existential Crisis, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Identity Issues, Promises, Protective Siblings, Seizures, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 06:43:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15791094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimmeringSun/pseuds/SimmeringSun
Summary: Blues finally agrees to get his core fixed by Dr. Light, and Rock keeps a promise.





	How To Kill A Dead Boy

**Author's Note:**

> This story is technically a sequel to "Can't Shake Him Off". Both can be read as standalones, but reading the first explains some things in this story.
> 
> There's also a scene with a seizure. If seizures upset or trigger you, please read with caution

“Alright.” The word was so simple, and yet it caused so much relief to sweep through Rock. It had taken long hours of talking at three in the morning, sixty-two rounds of racing games on the game system, and a big heaping pile of trust to get that one word out. It was spoken with hesitation and uncertainty that makes Rock scared the word would be taken back, but no word like this one has been said on this issue so he takes what he can get. He allows himself to smile. 

Blues isn’t smiling though. Rock can see his tinted eyes from this angle, and if he looks closely it looks like he’s going to cry any moment now. Rock knows that if there’s one slip up, that one word will be taken back in a heartbeat. 

“I know this is going to be hard.”, Rock says as he pats his brother’s shoulder. He understood why this all took so long now. He’s honestly proud of his brother for finally choosing things to go this way. “But it will all go ok, I promise.”

Blues nods an empty nod and turns away. He takes a moment and looks back at Rock with a determined expression.

“But if I do”, Blues says. “You have to promise me something.”

“Anything.”, Rock says without hesitation. “I’ll promise you anything, as long as you don’t back out.”

Blues bites his lip at the decision, and he says his request at a whisper that Rock’ ears barely caught. His eyes opened wide. He immediately wants to give a refusal. Visions from nightmares quickly slip through his mind, and Rock has to clench his teeth to will them away. 

“I…”, Rock says as he considers the words said. He knows that this is really important to Blues. He knows that Blues won’t go through with it without this condition. But it’s hard to agree to such a thing. He looks at his brother, and Rock swears he can hear his nuclear core. So he did what he had to do. “Ok, I promise. It's ridiculous, and won't happen, but I promise.”

“Cross your core and swear to die?”, Blues says in a way that reminds Rock that they are just both kids. 

“Yeah.”, Rock says with a forced smile as he makes an x shape over his core.

“Ok.”, Blues says as he lets out a breath of relief. “Then I have nothing to lose, do I? I’m going to ask Dr. Light tomorrow.”

“If you are, then can you sleep over tonight?”, Rock asked. His brother looks over to the window he usually takes his leave in and then back at Rock and the softly snoring Roll.

“Sure.”, Blues says.

“It will be out first slumber party.”, Rock says with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess so.”, Blues says with a snort. “You really are something Rock.”

“I know.”, Rock says back. Blues shakes his head with a smile.

Blues carefully picks up Roll from her sleeping position against the wall, and lays her on her bed. Rock lays down on his own bed, and after some floundering, Blues lays down next to him. He takes his helmet off and puts it on the nightstand, opting to leave his sunglasses on. Rock already knew what Blues’ eyes looked like, but he says nothing to his brother. He just wanted him not to leave.

“Rock, I can’t live with you guys even if this is all done right. You know that right?”, Blues asks.

“Yeah I know.”, Rock says. He knows that even this won't be able to undo the damage that was done. “I’m just happy you’re finally agreeing to this.”

“I think I am too.”, Blues says as he looks up the ceiling. “Thanks Rock.”

“You’re always welcome Blues.”, Rock says even though he doesn’t know what Blues is thanking him for. Rock closes his eyes. He feels Blues awake next to him for a while more. When Rock hears the soft thrum of Blue’s core settling down a bit, Rock falls into rest mode himself. He has no bad dreams that night.

“Blues!”, Rock hears Roll whisper in a panicked tone. Rock groans as he opens his eyes. Roll is shaking Blues’ shoulder in a panic. Blues shoots up and adjusts his sunglasses back on his face before he slides his helmet on.

“Roll what’s wrong?”, Blues asks.

“Blues! Dr. Light might come in at any moment!”, Roll says in a loud whisper. She looks nervously at the closed door.

“That’s ok.”, Rock says and Roll looks at both of them confused.

Roll is about to ask what was going on before there’s a knock on the door. Blues flinches instinctively but stays put, Rock putting a hand on his shoulder before his brother goes and hurls himself out the window. Things were definitely going to play out differently today.

“Children, it’s already nine, why aren’t you-”, Dr. Light’s voice sounds with the accompanying creak of the door opening. Rock sees his father tense and stop his movements when his eyes reach the sight of his firstborn. Rock feels Blues’ shoulder grow impossibly tense under his hand, and he squeezes it in comfort.

“Hello doctor.”, Blues manages to get out. It’s mostly mumbled, but everyone in the room heard it from how silent it was.

“Blues..”, Dr. Light says. Rock can't quite pinpoint what emotion is in his voice, if there even was any. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to request something.”, Blues says. He’s not looking directly at the doctor. “I want to take you up on that offering from a long time ago. I want you to fix my core.”

Roll gasps and looks over to Blues, before turning back to Dr. Light. The three siblings hold their breath as they look over to their father.

“Fix his core? Is there something wrong with Blues?”, Roll asks worriedly. Rock winces. He forgot that the whole thing was kept a secret from Roll. He was more concerned with the look of shock on Dr. Light’s face.

“My son..”, Dr. Light says. A warm smile blooms on his features. “Of course I will.”

Rock lets a smile spread across his face at his father’s words. He can tell Blues’ discomfort to being referred to as son, but Blues says nothing.

“Ok.”, Blues speaks up. “But I have conditions.”

“Conditions?”, Dr. Light asks. His smile drops.

“Yes.”, Blues says as he looks the doctor directly in the eye. “I don’t want my memories or who I am tampered with.”

“Blues, I would never-”

“We both know that’s a lie.”, Blues interrupts. “I don’t forgive you for the things you said and done. And I don’t want to be your son. I just want to stay for Rock and Roll, and I need my core fixed for that.”

Rock expects the look of hurt to appear on his father’s face. He expects a denial, and a declaration of love, but there’s nothing but a blank expression. Rock had always wondered about both sides and what they said. Blues said that Dr. Light was cold and had treated him like a weapon, and Dr. Light had told Rock that he loved and cared about Blues.

“Ok.”, Dr. Light says simply. “We can start immediately if you wish. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Ok.”, Blues says as he stands up and walks up to the doctor.

“Me and Roll are coming with.”, Rock blurts out immediately. Blues looks surprised by this, but then a smile crosses his face. Roll nods her head in agreement with Rock, and Dr. Light huffs.

“Alright children. Just please don’t get in the way. Removing his core and putting a new one in is a delicate process.”, Dr. Light says. 

“We won’t Dr. Light.”, Roll says as she stands next to Blues. She grabs his hand. Rock grabs the his brother’s other hand, and Blues holds onto them tight.

“Ok, follow me.”, Dr. Light says as he turns around. “I’m glad you made this decision, Blues.”

The four walk to the lab on the second floor in mostly silence, aside from the reassuring words Roll fed to her brother. Blues looks nervous and unsure, but Rock could tell his brother was relieved to finally go through with the process. Maybe he would even visit more often now that his core would be fixed. Blues had always been scared that his core would malfunction and explode on one of his visits.

But they wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. Rock didn’t have to wonder if every goodbye would be permanent when his brother took his leave.

“Lie here, my son.”, Dr. Light says as he points towards the lab table in the middle of the room. Blues nods and awkwardly lays down on the white surface, his hands held together over his chest. 

Rock and Roll stayed their distance, but offered him smiles and thumbs up. Blues smiled, and Rock swears Blues was rolling his eyes under his sunglasses, but the two could tell he appreciated their attempts at making him feel better.

“Relax Blues, it will all be ok.”, Rock says.

Dr. Light is shifting around the lab, getting tools from cabinets, and a dusty blueprint from a drawer. He holds a case in his hand as he finally walks over to the waiting robot.

“I’m going to turn you off now.” , Dr. Light says. “When I turn you on you’ll be cured, my son.”

Blues chews the bottom of his lip at the thought of being turned off, but he nods. He fidgets as Dr. Light opens his chest plate. With a few precise movements with the tongs in his hands, Dr. Light takes the green pulsing core out of Blues, and Blues’ body whirs to a stop. 

Rock shivers at the sound of his brother shutting off, but he smiles when Dr. Light pulls out a new core that looks exactly like his own. It’s blue, and stable. Much better than the nuclear core.

Dr. Light does not put the new core in though. Instead he looks at the lifeless body of Blues for a moment before he flips the body over. He takes the red helmet off of Blues, and the boy’s unruly tufts of brown hair stick up. Dr. Light pishes aside the locks, and makes incisions in the back of Blues’ head.

“W-What are you doing?”, Roll cries out.

“Dr. Light, you said you’d put the new core in him.”, Rock says. He stares in horror at the new opening in his brother’s head. He sees a mass of wires, and a few diodes. 

“Relax children.”, Dr. Light says. “I am merely making it so his body is ready for the new core. You can’t just drop a totally new core in; it could make him malfunction.”

“Oh.”, Rock says with a breath of relief. He lets the doctor’s words calm him. The two younger siblings watch in silence as their lifeless brother is worked on. They can't quite see what Dr. Light is doing from where they are standing, and Dr. Light insists that they stay back. 

Dr. Light messes around with the mass of wires some more before he takes a welder and carefully smoothes the latex skin back in its place. He flips Blues over again, and there’s some movement that Rock can’t quite see from where he’s standing. After a few seconds of working in his chest area, Dr. Light picks up the blue core, and puts it inside Blues.

Rock and Roll look at each other and smile. They immediately run up to Blues, but Dr. Light puts his hand up.

“Blues will need some time to process and get used to this new core. It could take up to one to two days.”, Dr. Light explains.

“Oh.”, Rock says glumly as he looked at his sleeping brother. “Ok.”

“Has he been visiting you often?”, Dr. Light asks, as he puts his tools down. He doesn’t bother cleaning them up.

“No.”, Roll says instinctively and Rock doesn’t bother to correct her. Maybe it was better that Dr. Light didn’t know about Blues’ late night visits every week.

“Look my children, me and Blues have a complicated relationship and I-”, Dr. Light says but is interrupted.

“You don’t have to pretend anything.”, Rock says. “We know you don’t love him the same way you love us.”

“I do love your brother.”, Dr. Light insists. “He was my first child, and I had no idea what to think of him. I still didn’t believe that his feelings and thoughts were real. I know I was wrong now. But it will all be ok now. We'll be a family again.”

Dr. Light envelops his two children in a hug, and the two hug him back. Rock looks to his sleeping brother and smiles. Maybe it really would all be ok now.

Dr. Light leaves the lab eventually, and Rock and Roll stay. Roll huffs as she picks up the tools around the lab, and Rock helps her out.

“Why didn’t you tell me Blues was in danger?”, Roll asks. She sounded hurt, but her voice did not raise. Rock sighs as he puts away the tools in his hands.

“I’m sorry..I know it was wrong to keep secrets from you, but it was not my secret to tell.”, Rock says apologetically. “He was in real bad shape one night after you had fallen asleep. He was freaking out and he was shaking. I never seen him like that before, and I was scared. He told me, but I don’t think he meant to really.”

“It’s ok Rock.”, Roll says with a small smile. “Just no more secrets from now on, ok?”

“Yeah.”, Rock says with a grin. His sister deserved that much at least. “I promise.”

The two Lightbots stay with their sleeping brother all day, only taking a break to go get an E- Tank and to play with Rush. They even went to talk to X for a bit about Blues’ situation.

“Now we have two sleeping brothers.”, Roll said with a giggle, and Rock laughed along too.

Eventually, Roll had to go clean around the house before Dr. Light got upset with her. Rock would have helped like he usually does, but an irrational part of him said he needed to stay with Blues. He sits down on a rolling chair and scoots it over next to his brother. He thinks about the promise he made to Blues.

He smiled, knowing he didn’t have to do what Blues had asked. He knew that it would all turn out ok. He wouldn't have agreed to the promise it if he thought otherwise. Blues was ok and sleeping soundly. He would wake up, and finally feel free.

“Wake up soon Blues.”, Rock says.

He stays on the chair until the room becomes dark with the setting sun. Rock lets his head drop onto his brother’s chest as he drifts to sleep.

The scene drips into one that he’s seen in person and in his mind many times. It never once plays out the same, but at the end it always has the same result. Mega Man prevails in his carnage while Rock weeps. 

“It’s better this way.”, The corpse beneath his fingertips says with a smile. He’s sparking all over. His limbs are barely hanging on by thin wires. Green eyes he’s only seen once in person, but thousands of times in his mind stare back at him. “It’s better..”

Rock gasps as he sit up. His core whirs inside his chest like it’s trying to break out of him. He darts his eyes over to the sleeping figure and almost weeps in relief. He considers shaking the dormant boy awake, but the soft whir of a working core that isn’t his is enough for Rock to sit back in his chair. He puts his hands in his head as his systems take in some air.

He looks out the small window in the room and sees that the sun is up. He fell asleep in the room last night. He looks around and almost expects to see the sight of Roll sleeping, but she isn’t there.

He gets up, flexing his joints as his systems wake. He’s about to go out of the room to see if anyone was up before he hears a groan behind him.

“Blues?”, Rock asks as he turns around. His brother was sitting up from the table, his head in his hands. Rock quickly goes to his brother’s side. Blues’ sunglasses slipped off and dropped to the floor.

Rock staggers back. 

“What?”, The newly woken robot asks as he looks around. “Where am I?”

“W-Who are you?”, Rock asks the question without a thought. Everything stilled as he waited for the response.

“I don’t know. Who am I?”, The robot answered. 

“Do you remember who I am?”, Rock asks with a plead. The robot looks confused.

“No? Should I?”, He asks. His eyes are wide, blue, and have pupils. They have whites, and look human.

Rock opens his mouth, a silent scream slipping out as he staggers back. He takes one last look at the robot before he runs out of the room. He walks, no runs, as fast as he could to the tenth floor. He bumps into a table, and almost causes a potted plant to fall over, but not once does he stop.

He slams a door open, and Dr. Light stirs in his sleep.

“What did you do?”, Rock asks. Dr. Light wakes up and looks at his son. “What did you do to my brother?”

“Rock..”, Dr. Light says as he sits up. “Whatever are you talking about?”

“That’s not going to work.”, Rock says as he furiously wipes away his tears. “What did you do to Blues?”

“I didn’t do anything to Blues.”, Dr. Light says calmly. “Is he awake?”

“He doesn’t remember me. He doesn’t remember his name.”, Rock says with tears in his eyes. “You took him away. Where did you put him?”

“Rock, I simply changed his core. If Blues lost his memory, it was most likely a result of that. I’m sorry.”, Dr. Light says as he gets up from bed and walks over to the crying bot. “I'll go take a look at him.”

“No! His eyes..you changed them!”, Rock says as he steps away from his father. He looks up at Dr. Light in horror. “You planned this!”

“His eyes..”, Dr. Light muttered. “You’ve seen his eyes before?”

“Where is his IC chip?”, Rock asks as he puts his hand out. He doesn’t bother gracing the doctor’s question with an answer. It just confirmed his suspicions. “Give it to me now!”

“Rock, I don’t know what’s gotten into you!”, Dr. Light says crossly. “Blues’ IC chip is inside of him.”

Rock looks at his creator. He’s such a bad lier. It was where Rock inherited his own horrible lying skills from. But Rock hardly lies, and Dr. Light does it daily.

“You can’t just start over.”, Rock says as the tears fall endlessly. “You can’t just press a reset button every time you mess up! I need Blues, and so does Roll. I need my big brother, so please give him back.”

“Rock...You really are a smart robot my son.”, Dr. Light says as he places a hand on Rock’s shoulder. “But you must understand, your brother was not a good person. He ran away and caused violence. He hated me, and I think beneath his fascade he hated you too. So I had to do this. For the good of the whole family.”

Dr. Light turns to his dresser and takes something out. He holds out his hand, and Rock stares down in horror at what the doctor holds. 

With trembling fingers, Rock takes the pieces of a broken IC chip. Broken gasps fall from his lips as he sees the disrepair inflicted on the device. It couldn’t possibly be salvaged. He looks up at doctor light who has a sickly smile on his face, like he expected everything to fall into his plan. Rock holds onto the broken piece of his brother, and before Dr. Light can do anything, Rock runs.

“Rock!”, Dr. Light calls after him, but Rock can barely hear him now. He runs and runs until he reaches the lab. He breathes in before he opens the door, and with a firm grip, he grabs the hand of the corpse.

“Come on.”, Rock says. “We need to leave. Now.”

“Where are we going?”, The corpse asks. It’s sickening that he could even possess the same voice as Blues. 

“To set things right.”, Rock says as he pulls him along.

Rock runs, the corpse trailing behind him.

Rock had never broken a promise before. He physically couldn't. Sometimes he though that Dr. Light had programmed with this trustful flaw. But he couldn't just go through with that promise he made just yesterday to his brother. It would kill him, he could never do a thing like that. 

But he knew someone who could.

He grabs his armor and keeps on moving, ignoring the barks from Rush as he ran out the door.

“What is this place?”, The corpse asks as it looks around the outside world. Rock is about to answer, but he shuts his mouth before a retching sob can sound out.

The two run until they are out of the city streets, and in the thick brush of trees. The trees surround them like a shield, and Rock hopes they can shield him for the feeling clawing at his core. 

He ignores the way the corpse looks around in awe. He ignores the way the corpse looks at the animals in the same regard Blues once did. He tries so hard to ignore the way the corpse was not his brother. It was easier to do once he looked at the eyes.

Blues’ eyes were pupiless. There were no whites in his eyes: just striking shades of a bright green. 

The eyes before him weren't Blues’. They were the same ones Rock and Roll had. Consistency was always something Dr. Light sought for after all.

“Sit.”, Rock chokes out as the two reach a clearing. It's a grass field with dandelions poking out. 

The corpse looks around in wonder before it sits down.

“Don't worry.”, Rock says with a smile. “I'll make this all better.”

Before the corpse can say a word, Rock opens its chest plate and rips out the IC chip.

With trembling fingers he fishes the broken IC chip out of his pocket. He carefully squeezes the pieces together, his core spinning fast as he shoved the pieces in the empty slot.

Rock closes the plate. 

Blues’ body processes the new IC chip. Rock almost lets himself smile in relief as he looks at his brother's eyes open.

But Rock falters when he looks in the eyes and see the pupils dilate into small specks. His brother convulses, each part of him shaking. Jumbled noises and beeps tumble out of his mouth.

“Blues please get up.”, Rock says as he goes down on his knees. He grabs onto his brother's arms and tries to hold him down, but the arms go flying out of his grip.

“Blues, I need you.”, Rock says as tears form in his eyes. “I love you so much, and so does Roll! We have to be there for when X wakes up remember?”

The body continues to convulse on the ground. Blues’ hair rubs against the floor and dirt gets caught in the locks.

The sight reminded Rock of something Roll had said.

“Humans sometimes have things called seizures. It's when there's an uncontrolled electrical disturbance in their brains.”, The aspiring doctor said as she happily read her book. It had been in the pile of books Blues had given her for her birthday. “They usually last from thirty seconds to two minutes and can be grave if they last longer than five.”

“I'll give you ten minutes.”, Rock said. 

He sat next to his twitching brother and put his chin on his knees as he tried to focus o the scenery.

Blues had taken him and Roll here before. There were tons of butterflies, and they all laughed and chased after the flying insects.

“You tripped over a rock, remember? You landed on your chest, and you were so frightened that you told us both to stand back.”, Rock said with trembling lips.

“You said you'd always protect me and Roll after what happened. You said you'd do anything to keep us safe.”, Rock said as he wiped away tears. “And I never did the same for you!”

His brother's arms and leg continued to twitch.

“This is all my fault. But I didn't want you to explode. You were always scared and frightened, and I wanted to end that for you. But I guess I was a fool.”

Rock lays down on the ground next to his brother and tried to focus on the clouds.

“I don't think I've ever thanked you before. For saving me many times, for saving Dr. Light despite everything, for being my brother..for anything!”, Rock says. The tears clog his vision to much to look at the clouds. “So thank you Blues. I'll keep your promise, but I'd rather you wake up instead.”

When the timer in his head said ten minutes had passed, and Blues was still spasming, Rock got up.

He looked at his brother and knew what he had to do. “Goodbye brother.”

Rock couldn't do it. So he looked at the boy who followed him in his every nightmare. He didn't want to do it either, Rock thinks, but he can do it.

The armor is put on, and Mega Man opens his eyes. He's destroyed countless robots, some that were even related to him, yet this was his hardest battle.

He points his blaster down at Blues. He positions it over his head and remembers the whispered request that he was promised to. 

“Never let him change me Rock. If I'm gone from my body, or my body is put on display at the hall of corpses, it will not be me. If I don't remember yours or Roll’s name then that's not me either. I want you to kill the imposter, because I'll already be dead.”, Blues had whispered. “Put a bullet through his head, and never let this body become a weapon again.”

With a shaking arm, Mega Man charges his blaster up to it's max. Blues’ twitching eyes look up at Mega Man, but those are not Blues’ eyes. With a sorrow that was more powerful than all sorrows the robot had felt before, he released the blast.

There were no smiles of triumph like so many dreams dreamt before. Mega Man did not revel in the sight of another dead. Instead, he and Rock wept over a dead boy put down once again.

**Author's Note:**

> Well between this and "Cruel Irony", there's just no good times for Blues huh? :(


End file.
